Watch The National Cover Frightened Rabbit with CHVRCHES’ Lauren Mayberry
Photos by Danny Clinch, Ian Gavan/Getty Music News Frightened Rabbit
The National paid homage to Scott Hutchison Tuesday night at the Summer Nights at the Bandstand festival in Glasgow, Hutchison’s hometown.
The lead singer, guitarist, founding member and primary songwriter of Frightened Rabbit took his own life in May of 2018.
The National frontman Matt Berninger harmonized with his band’s backup singers and Lauren Mayberry from fellow Scottish group CHVRCHES to perform a poignant cover of “My Backwards Walk,” from Frightened Rabbit’s second album, The Midnight Organ Fight.
In a fan’s video, Berninger, Mayberry and The National multi-instrumentalist Aaron Dessner can be seen playing in the rain while performing a mournful, emotive rendition of the Hutchison-sung original.
This wasn’t the first time that Berninger and Mayberry have collaborated. Last year, Berninger contributed vocals to the CHVRCHES single “My Enemy.”
Mayberry also joined forces with Dessner to cover Frightened Rabbit’s 2008 track “Who’d You Kill Now?” on the compilation album Tiny Changes: A Celebration Of The Midnight Organ Fight, which was released last month as a tribute to Hutchison.
Watch the haunting cover below via fan-shot footage, and revisit The National, CHVRCHES and Frightened Rabbit performances from the Paste archives further down.